1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for using an on-screen keyboard as an input unit and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for using a remote controller and an on-screen keyboard to conveniently and rapidly input characters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microsoft Windows is the operating system (OS) used by most computers. Windows provides an on-screen keyboard (hereinafter, referred to as an OSK) function. The OSK is a keyboard that is displayed on the screen of the computer. The user can select keys on the OSK to directly input characters to a predetermined position or a field of an activated program in the form of text.
When there is no keyboard, or when the keyboard is unavailable, the OSK can be used as a temporary expedient. When a small number of characters are input, such as a password or a file name, the use of the OSK makes it possible to prevent hacking via the keyboard. In recent years, a computer environment that can remotely control an operating system of the computer and various applications executed by the operating system, such as Microsoft Windows Media Center, has been established, which makes it possible to use a remote controller to input characters through the OSK.
In using the remote controller to input characters in the computer environment, the user pushes a direction button on the remote controller to move a highlighted portion to a character that the user wants to input on the OSK. When the highlighted portion is moved to the character, the user pushes a selection (or confirm) button on the remote controller to input the character.
FIG. 1 shows an OSK that is provided by Windows. The user must push the direction button on the remote controller ten times or more to move a highlighted portion 101 from the leftmost side to the rightmost side. A lot of time and a large amount of effort is required to select characters located at opposite sides of the OSK. When the user wants to input a large number of characters, the difficulty increases.